


Scentist

by goingtohell



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, F/F, Slightly magical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29513649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goingtohell/pseuds/goingtohell
Summary: Yoohyeon could make the flowers smell like anything. A thunderstorm, a memory of the sea, a lover.Minji can't help but be a bit curious.Or, a story where JiU owns a bakery and Yoohyeon owns a flower shop in said bakery and JiU ends up falling for her featuring cameos from Handong and Dami
Relationships: Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon
Comments: 11
Kudos: 144





	Scentist

If she were to be entirely honest with herself, there was something about Yoohyeon that Minji found intriguing.

She had met the girl after putting out the notice of the free space in her bakery - having a florist in their shop seemed like an good idea at the time, and Minji’s instinct was right. Business had gone up ever since the small shop took up residence in the corner of the bakery, the smell of flowers mixing in with the sweet smell of fruits from the baked treats, almost bringing new meaning to their bakery’s name Sugar & Flour.

Yoohyeon herself was a sweet girl, if not a bit awkward. Shy and easily embarrassed, the girl reminded Minji of a newborn giraffe at times, all long legs and long limbs and not nearly as much coordination with them as she’d like. Yoohyeon letting out a yell before hearing something crashing in the background wasn’t entirely an uncommon thing to hear, with Minji often shouting out for the girl as a quick check. She’d always get a rushed “I’m fine unnie, thank you!” from Yoohyeon, with the girl herself appearing from her back stock room not too long after, a light blush staining her cheeks, shooting a small, reassuring smile towards Minji.

While Yoohyeon did have a business partner that Minji had mainly spoken to via phone and email a few times who did the finances, Yoohyeon worked at the small shop alone, routinely coming in surprisingly early which gave Minji a fright initially, not expecting the florist to be in as early as herself. The girl would come in at the crack of dawn while Minji would be elbow deep in various doughs, soft music playing in the background of the bakery. Yoohyeon would use the time to sort through the inventory prior to putting together a few standard, ready to buy bouquets before moving on to any “special requests” due for that day.

The first time Minji overheard a customer request a special order wasn’t until about a month or two after Yoohyeon had settled in, the girl finally settling into schedule of sorts.

—

_There was always a lull between breakfast and lunch for the bakery, a period where they barely had any customers, so it was easy for the question to float and make it’s way towards her ears despite being said across the room._

_“Can…can you make it smell like the oceanside?”_

_It’s not the unusual request itself that makes Minji take notice of the question. It’s certainly an odd request, one that she can’t imagine someone typically asking of a florist. The voice itself sounds a bit uncertain, fully aware of how odd and borderline insane his request sounds._

_Rather, it’s the hopefulness in his voice. The pitch that gives away the fact that he fully knows his question sounds absurd, but despite that he still has a fraction of hope that it can be fulfilled._

_Minji spares a glance over at the flower stall, seeing a haggard looking man standing in front of Yoohyeon, fingers anxiously twisting away at the silver band around his finger. Yoohyeon looks up at him from the bouquet, her face betraying nothing, but her eyes kind, searching as her hands pause amongst the white and yellow buds._

_“Any oceanside? Or a specific one?”_

_The man stares at her blankly for a second, seemingly in shock that his request wasn’t immediately met with mockery, before he opens his mouth._

_“If you could make it smell like home-” the guy shakes his head for a moment, a sheepish smile forming on his lips at his slip up. “Sorry, if you could make it smell like Jeju, I’d really appreciate it.”_

_Yoohyeon continued to ask questions as she worked on the bouquet, her voice soft, never urgent or pressing. She was able to casually direct the ebb and flow of the conversation, making the man open up a bit more. The bouquet was for his wife, who was currently in the hospital after giving birth. Things were looking a bit shaky at the moment for both her and the baby, and the couple was visiting from out of town so they were away from their friends and family, alone in an unfamiliar city._

_“I know it’s not much, but…I just wanted her to feel comfortable, as if she was home.”_

_At the soft confession, Yoohyeon’s hands finally stopped moving, all the necessary adjustments made. Grabbing a light blue ribbon and tying it around the vase, she leaned in and took a deep breath, her nose just brushing the small buds. Nodding, Yoohyeon leaned back and gestured for the man to do the same._

_Hesitantly, the man leaned in, his eyes closed as he braced his hands against the counter top before taking in a quick whiff of the bouquet._

_His eyes opened wide in shock, jerking away from the flowers almost out of reflex before leaning in again and taking a deeper breath, the tension that was tight in his shoulders easing with his exhale. His hands were trembling as he brought them up to gently grasp the vase the flowers were in, his head almost sagging in relief._

_“When the nurses told me of you I didn’t want to believe it, but this…this is amazing.” The man let’s out a choked, noticeably watery sounding laugh. “You truly got it to smell like the oceanside by our home, I swear I can even smell the jasmine vines she has growing along the trellis.”_

_The bell above the door chimed, jolting Minji out of the daze she was in from watching Yoohyeon interact with the man. Busying herself with the new customers, she made a note to pay more attention to whenever Yoohyeon got a special order from then on out._

—

After that, Minji started popping by Yoohyeon’s counter when it was slower on her end, fruit tart in hand as a mid morning snack to share while she watched Yoohyeon work on whatever bouquet or arrangement was due that day, with the occasional small talk in between. Minji was worried that she was distracting Yoohyeon, and let her know as much one day only for the girl to immediately shake her head, eyes widening as she gestured with her hands hurriedly, the ribbon she was holding somehow getting tangled between her fingers as she waved them in the air.

“You’re not distracting me at all unnie,” Yoohyeon said quickly, a light blush spreading across her cheeks as she worked on untangling the ribbon from her hand. “It’s nice actually, having your company. I used to only do these special orders out of my apartment, and Dongie or Yubin would usually be in the living room working on something anyways, so I’m actually more used to having company than not.”

“Dongie is Handong, right?” Minji asked, holding up a forkful of tart to feed Yoohyeon, the girl accepting the bite shyly after some hesitation. “I’ve only ever spoken to her via phone and email, I hadn’t realized you lived together as well.”

Yoohyeon nodded as she finished chewing, swallowing quickly so she could answer. “Yeah! I live with Handong and her girlfriend Yubin - you might have seen her before, she usually picks me up when we close up shop if she’s free.” Minji nods, recalling the quiet girl she’s seen pick up Yoohyeon every so often, the two leaving arm in arm. She had assumed back then that perhaps she was Yoohyeon’s girlfriend - finding out otherwise made her happier than she thought she’d be, a slight smile on her lips at the new information.

“They’re the ones that encouraged me to start up my own shop once I finished school. Handong works from home every now and then, and Yubin works almost exclusively from home so you’re really not a distraction in the slightest - if anything, you’re helping me.” Yoohyeon finished off the bouquet in front of her with a flourish, tying the bright red ribbon into a picture perfect bow.

“Good,” Minji said with a smile as she popped the last of the fruit tart in her mouth, keeping her eyes on Yoohyeon all the while. “I’ll keep helping you then.”

It became routine after that, for Minji to end up having an late morning chat with Yoohyeon while the girl worked on whichever bouquet was needed for that day. Minji found herself looking forward to the conversations, learning more and more about the girl as time went on. Soon she knew not only the basics, like how Yoohyeon’s hometown was in Incheon, how she wanted a dog but their apartment complex didn’t allow for pets, and how she liked to take credit for matchmaking Yubin and Handong together, to more personal things, like how she was adopted, how nervous she was to start her own business, or how this flower shop had been a longstanding dream of hers since she was a child.

Minji even started talking to her when they were closing up, and through those conversations got to chat a bit with Yubin as well, often sneaking the girl some extra pastries lying around once she discovered the quiet girl had an unexpected sweet tooth.

After a week or two of these conversations, Yoohyeon started inviting Minji to smell the flowers when she was finished, occasionally asking her if she got the smell right (and she always did).

A stunning bouquet of dark purple calla lilies and lavender, dotted with smaller white baby’s breath that smelled of the flowers itself but also of parchment and freshly sunned laundry.

A huge centerpiece of bright yellow zinnias that smelled of freshly cut wood and a smoky campfire, a hint of sweetness from burnt marshmallow peeking out every now and then.

A small basket filled with white skeleton flowers and blue brunneras that was one of Minji’s favorites, that Yoohyeon somehow got to smell like the air did during a thunderstorm, clean and fresh, as if the world was starting anew.

Yoohyeon didn’t always have special requests on her to-do list but whenever she did Minji found herself excitedly looking forward to them, always in awe of Yoohyeon’s ability. She never outright asked how Yoohyeon did it, couldn’t even begin to imagine how she did it as Yoohyeon didn’t appear to do anything out of the ordinary. The flowers she used for the special requests and the normal purchases were all the same, and there was no constant with the special requests either, no decoration or vase or basket used for all of them.

She was able to watch Yoohyeon from start to finish once, as she got a last minute request phoned in right before both the bakery and the flower shop closed in the afternoon. The customer wanted a small bouquet of white primroses, requesting for it to smell like hot chocolate and the air after a snowfall. Normally Yoohyeon required a several hours advance advance notice for them, ideally a day really to ensure she had all the right flowers, but Minji had caught the tail end of the phone call, hearing a guy excitedly shout out “she said we’re having a girl!” before Yoohyeon had hung up, hurriedly moving to grab all the necessary items.

Honestly the whole affair was surprisingly routine. A yellow square of wrapping paper was laid down, with some white tissue paper after it; Yoohyeon then grabbed the primroses and a few other garnishes, placing them this way and that until she was satisfied. Once she wrapped it up and tied a ribbon around it, she brought it to her nose, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath in, smelling the bouquet.

Opening them and seeing Minji watching out of the corner of her eye, she motioned for her to come forwards and give the bouquet a whiff. Practically bouncing in excitement, the broom in her hand abandoned by the register, Minji made her way to the other end of the store. Bringing her hands up to grasp Yoohyeon’s own lightly, as the girl was still holding the bouquet, Minji closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, a smile spreading across her lips as the smell of a crisp winter morning greeted her. She could practically envision the untouched snow in her mind, before the sweet smell of hot chocolate wafted in soon after.

Opening her eyes and seeing Yoohyeon looking at her softly, her cheeks flushed ever so slightly, Minji gave the girl a bright smile, her hands tightening their hold on Yoohyeon’s own ever so briefly.

“It’s perfect, as usual…you really are amazing, you know that Yoohyeon?”

The blush on Yoohyeon’s cheeks reddened even further, the girl biting her lip hesitantly. The duo were startled out of their reverie though when the door to the cafe burst open, the bell above it ringing noisily as a relatively young, but extremely excited looking man came in, eyes scanning the shop before landing on Yoohyeon’s corner.

Minji moved to the side then and let Yoohyeon focus on her customer, the girl’s eyes crinkling into laughter at the obvious glee from the soon to be father, waving away his thanks as he paid for the flowers. It’s at that moment, Minji thinks to herself that she may just be a bit head over heels for Kim Yoohyeon.

—

It’s several days later when Minji, for the first time in months, isn’t the one opening the bakery. She is technically still there early in the morning making the various doughs, as their shop is still small enough that they haven’t really hired anyone else who knew how to do them (which is something Minji really thinks she needs to revise because honestly that just seems like a bad business move on her part), but she’s dashing out of the shop once everything is set and in the oven, leaving the store opening to Bora and getting ready to handle the hurricane of nonstop errands she had to run.

It isn’t until noon during a quick bite to eat that she takes a cursory glance at her to-do list for the day, feeling a bit tired but immensely satisfied at seeing more than half of the boxes checked off already: the bank, the dry cleaners, meeting with her apartment landlord, and dropping off Cherry at the groomers. She only had two things left on the list: grocery shopping and her final meeting of the day with the shop landlord. Thinking about it though, Minji realized she would have to go back to the bakery prior to the meeting so she could check on a few maintenance things she wanted to bring up with him, and quickly penciled that onto her list before starting her car once more to go to the grocers.

There she found herself standing in the middle of the store, staring rather blankly at the aisle in front of her as she mentally debated whether or not to get chips (her mind said no, stomach said yes), when a familiar voice called out to her.

“Minji?”

Startled, Minji turned around, seeing a pretty, orange haired woman giving her an appraising look. Minji was a bit confused as she didn’t recognize her face, but after a second of replaying the voice in her head, it clicked.

“Handong?”

The other girl nodded as she gave Minji a smile, walking closer to her, basket in hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person - I keep meaning to make my way over to the shop but I’ve been busier than expected with my other job, so I apologize for that.”

Minji shakes her head, waving away the apology with a smile as the two fall into light conversation. It lasts for only five minutes at most, with Handong promising to stop by the shop sometime this week, so she’s a bit surprised when Handong gives Minji a hug when she leaves, which while initially surprising isn’t entirely unwanted - Minji does tend to be an affectionate person in general so she usually does hug people goodbye. She does however get thrown off a bit when she realizes Handong is smelling her, the other girl not even looking remotely embarrassed at being caught in the act when she pulls back.

“Sorry, your perfume smells familiar, what is it?”

Frowning, Minji gives her hair a sniff. “Ah, I don’t really wear perfume. The soap I use has a lily scent, but usually I just smell like the bakery and that kind of ends up overwhelming everything else.”

“Huh,” Handong says, a rather mischievous smile on her face. “I could have sworn I’ve smelled it before, my mistake then. I know you’re not working today, but maybe I’ll see you later at the shop? Yubin and I were planning on visiting Yoohyeon and picking up a few things for our date night later on today.”

At Minji’s nod, Handong gives the girl another playful smile before going on her way, leaving Minji in the aisle, still a bit confused. Taking a glance at her phone, Minji swears a bit, grabbing a bag of chips as she makes her way towards the checkout, realizing she’ll need to pick up Cherry soon and drop her off at the apartment if she wants to make it back to the bakery in time for her meeting.

Once Minji deposits her now sparkling clean and fluffy dog back at her place, she quickly loops around to the back to the bakery, parking in the normal loading area this time as all the deliveries for the day were done, and she had to take a look at a few things in the stock and electrical rooms. Quickly dropping off her coat and bag in the back office, Minji makes her way towards the back room of Yoohyeon’s section of the store. She can’t help but shiver ever so slightly, as the room is largely just clear refrigerators for various flowers. Minji takes a few quick pictures of some meters and of a slight leak in one back corner before attaching them to an email to send to the landlord. Checking her phone once more, Minji figures she has enough time to relax in the bakery until the landlord gets there, and makes her way towards the doorway to Yoohyeon’s stall.

She can just see Yoohyeon beyond the slats of the privacy partition put up, and is pleasantly surprised to see both Yubin and Handong already standing by Yoohyeon’s corner as well. She starts slowly making her way through the back room, being careful to weave her body around the larger flowers and a few plants strewn about, being careful not to injure any of them.

“So? When are you gonna do it?”She hears Handong ask as she continues to make her way towards the partition separating the room with the front end of the store.

“When am I going to do what?”

It’s the next question she hears that causes Minji to stop and quickly backtrack behind the screen, Handong’s soft voice sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet store.

“When are you gonna ask Minji out on a date?”

There’s a large bang that happens shortly after that, to which Minji can only assume Yoohyeon tripped over something or dropped something (or quite possibly both) before she hears Yoohyeon sputtering. “Wha- I…I don’t know what you mean Dongie-”

“The flowers in your room, they smell a bit like this bakery. Or more accurately, according to Dongie,” Yubin said, her voice quieting but still loud enough for Minji to hear. “They smell an awful lot like Minji.”

Taking a quick peek from behind the screen, Minji can honestly say that she has never seen Yoohyeon’s face turn that bright red before, as even the girl’s ears looked like they were burning as she stuttered out an incredibly weak argument on why Yubin was speaking nonsense. Minji decided to rescue Yoohyeon at this point, walking back a bit before taking care to be extra loud as she walked out from behind the screen towards the trio.

“Oh, Handong? You finally made it to the store!”

It’s rather comical, really, how quickly the trio reacted to her. Handong and Yubin spun around, their faces impressively calm and betraying no emotion beyond the slight twinkle of mischief in their eyes. Yoohyeon, on the other hand, was the picture perfect reflection of panic, eyes wide and skin getting pale alarmingly fast considering the blush that was spread on her face earlier.

“Minji! Hi! When did you get in? Also, you were in my back room?” Nodding, Minji simply smiles at the trio as she holds up her phone, camera app up again.

“Had to take a few pictures for my meeting with the landlord later on today. Actually Yubin, could I talk to you for a bit? We were thinking of trying out this new tart flavor and I wanted a second opinion…”

Minji kept Yubin busy for a bit, both to give Yoohyeon some time to relax but also because she did genuinely have a few seasonal pastries and tarts they made the day prior and she wanted another mouth to act as a taste tester. In the end it benefited both girls, as Minji had Yubin confirm her thoughts on which ones to go with, and Yubin had a bag full of the seasonal goods for her date night later on with Handong.

The two bid their farewells, although not without Handong giving Yoohyeon one final look, before Minji turned to Yoohyeon, the girl calm but still clearly a bit nervous as she started to clean up the stall for closing time.

“Hey Yoohyeon?” Minji called out, continuing when Yoohyeon paused and turned her full attention to her.

“I actually wanted to ask a favor of you before you closed up for the day.” Moving to stand in front of the counter, her face the picture perfect image of nonchalant confidence, betrayed only by the slight fidgeting her hands were doing, Minji focused her gaze on Yoohyeon.

“I was hoping to ask someone out on a date, and wanted a bit of courage…I’m sorry to ask, but could you to make a lily smell like them for me?”

Minji almost cracked after asking her question, noticing that Yoohyeon was making a very noble and valiant effort to appear unaffected at the request, her face an impressive mask if not for the fact that her shoulders visibly deflated at Minji’s request. The girl simply nodded as she looked down at her own hands, missing the soft smile Minji gave before schooling her expression back to a more neutral look once Yoohyeon looked up again.

“Tell me about them?”

“Well,” Minji started, her eyes following Yoohyeon’s form as she moved towards her storage area. “She’s probably one of the sweetest girls I’ve met. Kind eyes, a bit on the clumsy side but in an endearing way. I haven’t known her for too long but talking to her is one of the best parts of my day, so I’m hoping to learn more about her.”

The girl simply nodded and moved towards the fridge, eyes scanning as took a careful look at the lilies, and Minji couldn’t help but smile seeing that even though Yoohyeon seemed somewhat sad, she was still doing her best to pick out the most perfect flower for Minji.

Selecting a bright yellow lily, Yoohyeon closed her eyes took a deep breath, her brows scrunching as her nose brushed against the bud. Opening her eyes, she once again took a deep breath, her lips forming a frown as she looked a Minji in confusion.

“I…I’m sorry Minji, I don’t think I did this right.” Minji tilted her head to the side in question, question evident in her eyes, but Yoohyeon was so focused on the flower she missed the slight teasing smile on Minji’s lips as she stared at the befuddled girl.

“This hasn’t happened before, I swear, but I don’t smell anything.”

Minji took the flower from Yoohyeon, bringing it close to her nose and taking in a deep breath, a smile easing on to her lips as she took in the slightly sweet scent of apple blossom, with just a slight hint of the cold smell that lingered on Yoohyeon whenever she’d be spending time in the fridge, sorting through all the flowers. Shaking her head, Minji looked up at Yoohyeon, giving the confused looking girl a bright, warm smile.

“No, you got it perfectly. It smells just like her.”

Yoohyeon still kept the frown on her lips, reaching out to grab Minji’s hand to once again bring the flower to her nose, determined to give the bud another whiff. She was startled however when Minji caught it instead, gently opening her hand and transferring the flower into Yoohyeon’s hold. Gently running her thumb alongside the back of Yoohyeon’s hand, Minji gently grasps it with both of her own, drawing Yoohyeon closer to her. A look of realization and hope finally makes it’s way across Yoohyeon’s face, her cheeks reddening ever so slightly at their sudden close proximity.

Leaning closer, giving Yoohyeon the opportunity to push her away, Minji gently brushes her lips across Yoohyeon’s own. The kiss is barely a touch of the lips, more of a promise of things to come than a kiss if she were to be honest, but for Minji, it was perfect.

“Will you go on a date with me, Yoohyeon?”

Yoohyeon could only smile, big and bright and completely open as she pulled Minji in, wrapping her arms tightly around the girl as she buried her nose against her neck, nodding while muttering a shy but elated yes into her shoulder. Minji could only laugh as breathed in, relaxing as the scent that was just uniquely Yoohyeon filled her senses, thinking that nothing could smell sweeter.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in literal years so I'm a bit rusty and apologize for any errors as this isn't beta read at all. If anyone ever wants to chat or fangirl or drop prompts that I may or may not use I'm still active on tumblr @sinningtheseries and I do have a Twitter now @sinningseries so feel free to follow and chat I'm nice if not a bit awkward I swear.


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